Gulf oil disaster prompts Red Lobster to stop selling oysters

Red Lobster plans to stop serving oysters once its current supply runs out, the seafood chain said Monday. The decision came after supplier AmeriPure Processing ran out of supply and closed its doors amid the ongoing Gulf oil spill.

Brad Rosenstein at Jack’s Oyster House in Albany and LeGrande Serras of Reel Seafood Co. in Colonie tell me that while they don’t source their oysters or fish from the Gulf, wholesale prices have been affected because of greater demand in the overall market for non-Gulf seafood. Serras says his first post-spill contract for shrimp is almost 25 percent higher per pound. Dominick Purnomo of DP/Yono’s in Albany says his restaurants, which used to receive fresh Gulf shrimp, have had to source shrimp from elsewhere, and fish like grouper are no longer on the menu.

The fish fry joints around the area should be able to save a pile of money on frying oil — the fish can some in with the oil already installed.

On a side note — why can they just call it “fish” fry or “fish” sandwich? Would anyone order a menu item called “meat sandwich”? We need a regulation that requires them listing the kind of fish, if not the exact species.